Christmas :D :D

It's only 3 months (and a bit) until Christmas and I wanted to be the first one to mention it.

I love Christmas and this years is going to be the best! :\) I know some of you had your LOs home last year but I had Christmas dinner sat on a hospital bed as Abby had been so ill. Luckily we got her home for 10pm but this year I have her for all of it! And she will be old enough to enjoy it! And I will be able to drink mulled wine and champagne! And I will eat roast potatoes fresh out of the oven and not reheated because the doctor was prodding Abby! And we can take her to the carol service! And.......................... :\)

Anyway because I am soooooo excited I have started Abby's amazon list. How sad am I? After adding half a million Hairy Maclary books that we don't have and some musical instruments I ran out of ideas. What wonderful toys, clothes, books etc do you want for your LO for Christmas (or their first BD)?

I love christmas too but we will be on a mega tight budget this year so won't go crazy spending on presents but am looking forward to it, allthesame.

Weirdly, christmas has turned into a mini-drama already because one of my best friends from NZ (who lives in London) asked me if she could come up for christmas as she wanted to be with a family (hers in NZ) and of course I said YES, straight away because she is my good friend and I love her and I've been in her shoes so much myself, I want her to be with us....except....I didn't consult OH!!!

He turns around and says he is really disappointed because he was so looking forward to our first family christmas. OUCH! I didn't even think of this when she asked me, nor did I think OH would have been thinking so strongly like this! I said I would uninvite her if he wanted (plus she told me when she asked to tell her to bugger off as she said she didn't want to be cheeky!) but he said no (and I wouldn't anyway, I just wanted him to know I was considering his feelings too...albeit after the fact!!)

I am big on more the merrier and I welcome my NZ friends and family with open arms unconditionally because as good as MIL and FIL are, they don't celebrate in the same way we do at home and I always crave kiwiness at christmas!

It's going to be fun, I know, and I really hope OH won't mention it again because now she's coming, I just want it to be good times. He really likes her too but he is a sensitive wee soul at times, too.

dolls housewhizz abround gargage from the ELCbuilding blocks/mega blocksactivity table form ELCquilt and quilt covers?rag dollsballsrocking horsepiece of jewellry that she can keep when she is older. last year she was 8 weeks on christmas day and we got her a silver sparkly bear necklase that she can keep from her first christmas.

we also got a bangle too. we are doing the same for her 1st birthday, goint to get a locket and put a pic of us in and her first baby pic in (prob sounds really sad but want her to have something that she can keep rather than just toys which will get broken or she wont want when she gets even a little older)

I'm starting to think Christmas too. Not quite sure what I want to do this year. Could stay at home with just us, or with my Mum but I don't often enjoy that too much as Mum is always a little down and serious as her dad died on xmas day. The inlaws are normally great fun but it can get a little crowded and atmosphere will depend on what part of the family hosts.

toy wise I may look to ebay as we're going to be on a major small budget this year. I may also just look at what he gets and fill in the gaps.

We still have cards and paper I bought last year (or the year before) in the sales. Looking at being a real cheap skate this year and some people are just going to get a box or tin or chocs. Not that fussed as several of the people they will go to either tend to give us pretty poor or boring presents we can't particularly use, or we struggle to buy for them and at least chocs should go down well enough.

DH needs a cool dad mug as I managed to smash his at the weekend, other than than it might be clothes or maybe a meal out.

Perfume sounds like a great pressie. Personally I'm hoping for a wii game for some extra variety to the workouts.

Ooh I'm sorry to be a damp squid in such a happy post but I'm a bit bah humbug about Christmas, like first birthdays! I like it and everything, but I don't really get excited by it, and I'm not going to be buying Lily anything in particular - this is the child whose current favourite toy is a beer box :roll: We'll def get her a pressie but it'll be quite modest, and there will only be one. Oh except books, I expect I'll buy her a load of books. I sound soooo stingy, but seriously, she's going to be far more interested in the wrapping paper than the pressies. Anyway we have wonderful and generous friends and family who will no doubt spoil her rotten.

Helen, your post was lovely, your excitement at being at home with Abby after such a rubbish Christmas last year made me smile :\)

Yay, I cant wait. Although we had been home 5 days last Xmas Day, I cant really remember much. I was adjusting to becoming a Mum, breatfeeding and waking in the night. I have had both Ruby's birthday and Christmas present since she was 8 wks old!! Only because I went into Tesco and they had mega deals on. For her birthday I got a Vtech computer, reduced from ??36 to ??8 and for Xmas I got the Fisher Price jump and spin Zebra. This was reduced from ??50 to ??12!! So both presents cost me ??20! Bargain. My Mum already has a wardrobe full of presents, that I imagine it taking Ruby a week to open them all. I think my Mum forgets that she is only going to be a year old. I have warned Mum that she will have too much, and have said that most of it will stay at her house as I just havent got the room. Her main present from my Mum and Dad is a Smart Trike and Mil and Fil have got her a Vtech ride on alphabet bus..also reduced in Tesco from ??50 to ??25 xx

All i want for xmas is snow!! I would love to take Josh out to play in it and just see his lil face all excited by it He was 5 weeks at xmas last year so he was all dressed up in his little red outfit but just stared at the lights on the xmas tree, we had everyone over ours which was a bit stressful but we thought would have been easier than us trying to go anywhere. I think we will enjoy a quiet morning at home and then prob go to inlaws for lunch and then off to have a belated kiwi xmas in NZ in January Havent thought much about toys for xmas as weve just been buying birthday presents so xmas will prob just be clothes and maybe a toy or two, but we know he will get spoilt by the rest of the family. I cant wait! xx

i LOVE christmas too! it has just all become so much more enjoyable since we had Milly. Last year was lovely, i was so excited cos Ruby was due (28th) and i had so much to look forward to. we made it extra special for milly as it would be the last one with just her. i ate loads (as much as would fit in) and made the most of every minute- i just love watching milly open presents, the excitement on her face is priceless!i remember lying on the settee on the night on 27th/28th having some mild contractions, and it was dark except for our fibre optic tree twinkling and i was just feeling all warm and fuzzy and christmassy!i cant wait to put the tree up and decorate. No idea what i'm gonna get for the girls as we're really el skinto this year! will have to bargain hunt. wont get too much for Ruby at all, just a few bits in her stocking like bath toys or something. we want to get milly a new bed as she is still in a Thomas the tank one which she loved but now its a bit young for her. she wants one of those cabin beds but they're so expensive!!!i cant wait til Dec!!!

I'm really looking forward to Christmas this year, Casper and Alex are at an age where they still love leaving a mince pie for Santa and a carrot for Rudolph! I then have to make sure there's just the foil pie case and some carrot peelings in place before I go to bed! Plus it's Toby's 1st Christmas and then birthday a few days later.

I have started to buy for the boys already, not lots though. Casper has his main present already, as does Toby. For Alex's birthday we're going to get him some ELC Happyland toys, I think we'll probably add to that for one of his Christmas presents too.

We have dinner with Martin's parents every year so I'm not too sure what will be happening there, his mum will only be a month in to at least a 3 month recovery from her operation so she might not feel up to celebrating to much. I think we'll have to talk to them and see what they want to do this year.